Machine for treating dough and the like.



E. T. PARSONS. MACHINE FOR TREATING DOUGH AND THE LIKE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 31, 1909.

Patented Apr. 25, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET '1.

THE'NORRIS PETERS C0,, WASHINGTON, 0 cv E. T.- PARSONS. V MAGHINE FORTREATING DOUGH AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED 11:43.31, 1909. a ed Apt-'25, 1911.

, 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- E. T. PARSONS. MACHINE FOR TREATING DOUGH AND THELIKE.

' APPLICATION FILED MAR. 31, 1909.

990,383. Patented Apr. 25, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

THE NORRIS PETERS C0,, WASHINGTON, n. c.

EDWARD T. PARSONS,

OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

DEACHINE FOR, TREATING DOUGH AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 25, 1911.

Application filed March 31, 1909. Serial No. 487,018.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD T. PARSONS, a citizen of the United States,and a rcsident of Newark, in the county of'EsseX and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinesfor Treating Dough and the Like, of which the following is aspecification.

The invention relates to improvements in machines for treating dough,and it consists in the novel features, structure and combinations ofparts hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The object of the invention is the production of a highly eflicientmachine for molding pieces or lumps of dough and imparting to the lumpsso molded or treated all of the beneficial characteristics sought to beattained by customary hand-molding processes.

The machine of my invention comprises, in its preferred form, a verticalrotary drum and a stationary trough encompassing the same along which bytheir contact with the rotating drum the lumps of dough are caused totravel, said trough preferably comprising three sections, one beinghorizontal and extending about one-half way around the lower end of saiddrum, another being horizontal and extending about one-half way aroundthe upper end of said drum, and the third being inclined and extendingaround one-half of said drum from the end of the lower trough-section tothe beginning of the upper trough-section. At the terminus of the uppertrough-section is provided a discharge chute for the molded lumps ofdough, and preferably the upper troughsection is formed with a hingedportion so that the trough at its delivery section may be adjustedtoward and from the drum as occasion may require. I also provide themachine with scraper-blades for cleaning the sides of the drum andwithdeflecting blades engaging the top of the drum for directing flourplaced on said top to the edges of the drum whence it may fall into thetrough for flour-dusting the same.

The special formation of trough herein presented has been designed tosecure the highest efliciency in dough-molding processes, and preferablythe drum will have vertical grooves formed in its side to create asurface adapted to engage and move the lumps of dough along said troughand at the same time act on the skin of the lumps in a beneficialmanner.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed descriptionhereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which:

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a machine constructed in accordance withand embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly brokenaway, of the same taken from the right hand side of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is adetached top view of a portion of the same and shows a modification;Fig. 1 is a top view of the complete machine less the driving mechanism,and Fig. 5 is a central vertical section through a portion of the sameon the dotted lines 5-5 of Figs. 2 and 4..

In the drawings 10 designates suitable support-ing legs for thebed-plate 11 which may be of any suitable outline and supports theoperative parts of the machine.

Mounted centrally upon the bed-plate 11 is a vertical rotary drum orcylinder 12, which is secured on a vertical shaft 13 to be driven by anysuitable means. I illus trate the shaft 13 as having secured on itslower end a beveled gear wheel 14 in mesh with a beveled pinion wheel 15secured on the driving shaft 16, which is equipped with a suitableclutch member 17 and normally loose belt wheel 18, but I do not limitthe invention to any special driving and clutch mechanisms. The shaft 13extends upwardly through a central hub portion 19 of the drum 12 and theupper end of said shaft and hub portion are held in a bearing 20 at theupper inner converging ends of arms 21, 22 which are preferably in theform of a casting and secured at their lower ends to the bed plate 11.The drum 12 has a flat top, rounded upper edges and vertical sides whichare plain with the exception of being formed with vertical grooves 23which are somewhat wider at their lower than at their upper portions anddo not extend to the upper end of the drum. The purpose of the grooves23 is to create asurface on the drum capable of engaging the pieces ofdough and facilitating their treatment and movement along the pathintended for them.

The drum 12 is encompassed by a trough 24 through which the pieces ofdough are caused, by the rotation of the drum, to roll and travel fromthe point of entrance 25 therefor (Fig. to the delivery chute 26 at theupper terminus of the trough. The trough 24: is of special shape incross-section, said trough curving downwardly and inwardly on a steepslope or declivity to the side of the drum 12, as more clearly shown inFigs. 2 and 5. I regard the shape of the trough 24 as of specialimportance in the attainment of the result sought. The trough 24 isvertical, it has an open top and is closed at its inner side by the sideof the drum 12, and as aforesaid said trough curves downwardly andinwardly to the side of said drum, whereby the trough is very narrow atits bottom and increases in width from its bottom upwardly. The trough24 may be considered as formed of three sections 27, 28, 29, the section27 being horizontal and at the lower end of the drum 12, the section 29being horizontal and at the upper end of the drum and the section 28being inclined and extending upwardly around the drum from the lowersection 27 to the upper section 29. The lower section 27 and the lowerend of the section 28 are flanged and secured together, as at 30, andthe adjoining ends of the sections 28, 29 are similarly flanged andsecured together, as at 31. The lower trough-section 27 is secured to astandard 32 which is bolted to the bed-plate 11; the section 28 issecured to brackets 33 which are bolted to the vertical portions of thearms 21, 22, and the section 29 is secured by a bracket 34 to a standard35 bolted to the bed-plate. I preferably, though not necessarily, formthe upper trough-section 29 with a hinged portion 36 so that at thedelivery part of the trough the latter may be widened on gradual linesif desired. The hinged portion 36 of the trough will be supported on aflooring 37, which is stationary and closely encompasses the drum 12below said hinged portion 36 so as to prevent the creation of an openspace below said hinged portion 36 when the latter is turned outwardlyfrom the drum, said flooring when the portion 36 is turned outwardlyconstituting a part of the bottom of the trough, as shown in Figs. 4 and5. The flooring 37 may be conveniently secured in position by arms 38extending therefrom (F ig. 4) and fastened to the standards 32, Themeans for enabling the adjustment of the hinged portion 36 of the troughand its being secured in its adjusted positions comprise a bar 39secured to said portion 36 and bent to extend over the standard 32 and abolt 40 passing through an elongated slot in said bar and entering saidstandard. The delivery chute 26 may be secured in position by an arm 41secured to the trough and to one side of the chute and by the other sideof said chute being fastened to the flooring 27, as indicated in Fig. 1.

I equip the machine with scrapers 42, 43

for the side of the drum 12, these scrapers being strips of sheet metalhaving an edge held against said drum and provided to keep the drumreasonably free from accumulations of flour and dough. The scraper 42will engage the side of the drum 12 in advance of the lower end orbeginning (25) of the trough, and the scraper 43 will engage the upperportion of the side of the drum as the same passes beyond the deliverychute 26. The matter removed by the scraper 43 will descend upon a chute44 which will conduct the same laterally over the trough, as shown inFigs. 1 and 4.

It is desirable that the trough 24 when in use be dusted with flour, andto facilitate this operation I secure to the rim of the upper section ofthe trough the scraper-blades 45 which extend angularly upon and engagethe upper surface of the drum 12. The flour is dusted upon the head orupper end of the drum 12 and as the latter rotates the flour is carriedagainst the scrapers which arrest the same and, due to their positionand the motion of the drum, cause the flour to gradually deflect towardand over the edge of the drum, whence it descends into the trough.

The operation of the machine of my invention will be largely understoodfrom the foregoing description and only brief further reference theretois necessary. The drum 12 is rotated by power and the lumps of dough arefed to the trough 24 at the beginning of its lower section 27 or at thepoint 25 (Fig. 2). The lumps of dough fed to the trough rest at one sideagainst and are engaged by the drum 12 and are by the latter rolledalong thelower section 27 of the trough, then up the section 28 thereofand then along the section 29 to the chute 26, down which they may, oneafter another, descend. The coarser portions of the grooves 23 of thedrum 12 engage the lumps of dough while said lumps are in the lowersection 27 of the trough and in the lower portion of the inclinedsection 28 thereof, and the finer portions of said grooves engage saidlumps during their travel along the upper portion of the trough section28. The drum 12 presents smooth surfaces to the lumps of dough duringthe travel of the latter along the upper trough-section 29. The trough24 is entirely open at its upper side and curves downwardly and inwardlyto the side of the drum 12, which closes the inner vertical side of thetrough. The trough 24 composed of the three sections or divisionshereinbefore referred to I have found to be specially beneficial in thecorrect molding and treatment of the dough. The hinged portion 36 of theupper troughsection may be turned outwardly from or inwardly toward thedrum 12 according to the effect it may be desired to create with respectto the dough. If freedom from pressure on the dough is desired theport-ion 36 will be turned outwardly, otherwise it will be set inwardly.

The modification shown in Fig. 3 consists in providing a detachabletrough-section 4:8 having a side wall 49 which gradually thickens towardthe outlet end of the trough, the said section at being intended to beset into the trough 2% at its exit portion when it may be desired togradually restrict the passage through the trough and thereby increasethe pressure on the lumps of dough passing to the chute 2G. Thetrough-section 48 is a reducing member and it will be used or not as theoccasion may require, either with the trough having a hinged portion 86or with the trough if made rigid and uniform throughout or not providedwith said hinged portion. The trouglrsection L8 affords means forvarying the dimensions of the upper section of the main trough 2st.

What I claim my invention and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

1. In a machine for treating dough and the like, a vertical drum, meansfor rotating the same, and a trough encompassing said drum andcomprising a lower section extending along the lower part of said drum,an upper section extending along the upper part of said drum and aninclined section extending from said lower to said upper section, theside of said drum closing the inner side of said trough, and aconcentric portion of said trough being hinged and adjustable withrelation to said drum; substantially as set forth.

2. In a machine for treating dough and the like, a vertical cylinder,means for rotating the same, and an open-top exposed trough 24encompassing said cylinder and in cross-section curving downwardly andlaterally on a steep slope to the side thereof, whereby the side of thecylinder closes one side of the trough and the trough is of graduallydecreasing cross-sectional area toward its lower portion with saidportion of materially less diameter than the general diameter of thepiece of dough to travel along the trough, .aid trough comprising alower section extending along the lower part of said cylinder, an uppersection extending along the upper part of said cylinder and an inclinedsection extending from said lower to said upper section, and said upperand lower sections of said trough being substantially horizontal andeach encompassing about one-half of the circumference of said cylinder;substantially as set forth.

3. In a machine for treating dough and the like, a vertical drum, meansfor rotating the same, and a trough encompassing said drum andcomprising a lower section ex tending along the lower part of said drum,an upper section extending along the upper part of said drum and aninclined section extending from said lower to said upper section, theside of said drum closing the inner side of said trough, and aconcentric portion of said trough being hinged and adjustable withrelation to said drum and having a stationary flooring closelyencompassing the side of said drum to close the space which wouldotherwise be left when said portion is moved outwardly from said drum;substantially as set forth.

4. In a machine for treating dough and the like, a vertical drum, meansfor rotating the same, and a trough encompassing said drum and extendingfrom the lower to the upper portion of the same, combined withdeflecting scraper blades engaging the top of said drum for directingfiour placed on said drum to the edges thereof, whence it may descendinto said trough, the side of said drum closing the inner side of saidtrough; substantially as set forth.

5. In a machine for treating dough and the like, a vertical drum, meansfor rotating the same, and a trough encompassing said drum and extendingfrom the lower to the upper portion of the same, combined withdeflecting scraper blades engaging the top of said drum for directingflour placed on said drum to the edges thereof, whence it may descendinto said trough, and scraperblades for cleaning the side of said drum,the side of said drum closing the inner side of said trough;substantially as set forth.

6. In a machine for treating dough and the like, a vertical cylinder,means for rotating the same, and an open-top exposed trough 24encompassing said cylinder and in cross-section curving downwardly andlaterally on a steep slope to the side thereof, whereby the side of thecylinder closes one side of the trough and the trough is of graduallydecreasing cross-sectional area toward its lower portion with saidportion of materially less diameter than the general diameter of thepiece of dough to travel along the trough, said trough comprising alower section extending along the lower part of said cylinder, an uppersection extending along the upper part of said cylinder and an inclinedsection extending from said lower to said upper section, and said upperand lower sections of said trough being substantially horizontal onebelow the other and each encompassing about one-half of thecircumference of said cylinder, while said inclined section encompassesthe other half of said cylinder, combined with a downwardly inclineddischarge chute 26 at the terminus of the upper end of said trough;substantially as set forth.

7. In a machine for treating dough and the like, a drum, means forrotating the same, and a trough encompassing said drum, combined withmeans for varying the size of a portion of said trough; substantially asset forth.

8. In a machine for treating dough and the like, a vertical cylinder,means for rotating the same, and an exposed open-top troughfl iencompassing said cylinder and in cross-section extending downwardly andlaterally on a steep slope to the side thereof, whereby the side of thecylinder closes one side of the trough and the trough is of graduallydecreasing cross-sectional area toward its bottom portion with saidportion of materially less diameter than the general diameter of thepiece of dough to travel alongthe trough, said trough being adapted toreceive the dough at its lower end and release the same at its upper endand being extended upwardly spirally along the vertical surface of saidcylinder, whereby on the rotation of said cylinder the piece of dough iscaused to travel upwardly along the trough and around said cylinder withthe confinement and weight of the dough causing the piece thereof tosettle closely in said trough and against said cylinder; substantiallyas set forth.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, this 30th day of March, A. D. 1908.

EDWARD T. PARSONS.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR MARION, CHAS. C. GILL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

